


Beginnings: Casino

by WildClover27 (PrairieFlower)



Category: Garrison's Gorillas
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-05
Updated: 2017-10-05
Packaged: 2019-01-09 06:49:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12271113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrairieFlower/pseuds/WildClover27
Summary: What were Casino's first impressions of Actor and Wheeler? And what were Garrison's impressions of him.





	Beginnings: Casino

Casino couldn’t wait to get out of the back seat of the car and get the chains off. Two hours with feet and hands cuffed and shackled to each other had cut the circulation off to all four limbs. He watched impatiently as the young Army lieutenant signed the paperwork. Finally, the door was opened and his legs were yanked out so he could stand. The numbness in his feet turned to needle-like stabs as circulation returned. He stood, trying to maintain his balance.

“Hey! Can yuh get these things offa me now?” he asked belligerently.

“Are you going to attempt to escape?” asked Garrison calmly.

“Naw, Warden,” replied the man sarcastically. “Where would I go? I don’t even know where I am.”

Garrison nodded to the guard. “You can remove them.”

Casino held his arms out so the sergeant could unlock the bracelets and then bend down to remove the anklets. The other guard kept his gun trained on the convict. Casino rubbed his wrists and shook first one foot and then the other.

“This way, Mr. Coletti,” said the lieutenant, leading the way up the stone block steps.

The convict was a step behind him. “Hey Warden. My old man is Mr. Coletti. They call me Casino.”

“Okay, Casino,” said Garrison in a conversational tone. “They call me Lt. Garrison.”

“No kiddin’, Warden,” shot back Casino sarcastically.

Craig Garrison had the feeling he had just been given a new nickname and it wasn’t one he particularly liked. It was going to be a long war.

Casino had taken in at a glance the Mediterranean style of the building. He stared at the Greek statue of Venus at the top of the stairs. This was supposed to be England for cryin’ out loud. This didn’t look like how he expected buildings in England to look.

Stepping inside behind the Army officer was another surprise. They were facing a wooden staircase with a carpet runner and carved wooden bannisters. The dark wood of the walls reminded him of a funeral parlor. Casino sensed the presence of other men before he turned his head to the left and saw them.

The one sitting in the wing-backed chair on the right was a tall, slim man with lightly olive skin. He had a book in one hand and cigarette in the other. Wearing an ascot, the man looked more elegant than the tan jumpsuit allowed. The face looking back at him was expressionless.

The expression on the face of the bald, stocky man sprawled in the chair on the left was trouble. Casino knew the type; loud, braggart, and a bully. Oh, this was gonna be fun.

Garrison stepped forward and addressed the two seated men. “Gentlemen, this is Casino.” He indicated the tall man. “Actor.”

The man gave a tilted dip of his head in acknowledgement. Casino gave a nod in return.

“And Wheeler.”  
Wheeler? Naw, couldn’t be.

“Where you outta,” asked the bald man belligerently.

Great. It could be. “Leavenworth.”

Wheeler gave a snort. “Sissy place. We’re from the Rock.”

Alcatraz. It was. Casino had never met him, but knew of his reputation throughout the prison system. So Coletti just gave an answering sneer.

“Your quarters are upstairs.”

Garrison’s voice drew Casino’s attention. He slowly followed the officer upstairs, hoping he wasn’t going to be bunking with either of the men he had just met. He stepped into the common room on the second floor and immediately took in the cots scattered about the room. Terrific. He was stuck with both of them. There was less privacy here than in stir.

“Take your pick of one of these three,” said Garrison, indication with a sweep of his hand the unspoken for cots.

Casino looked around. The sloppily made cot to his right was obviously Wheeler’s. He didn’t want to be anywhere near that crumb. The cot on the left was neatly made and a book sat on the table beside another wing-back chair. Casino didn’t want to be too close to Beautiful either. There were two cots side by side behind the center table. He chose the one closest to the table and the farthest of the two away from “Actor.” He’d take his chances with whoever took the cot next to his. The third cot was on the same side of the room as Wheeler, who would probably be worse than the tall man.

Casino walked over and pushed on the coarse wool blanketed mattress of the bed he had chosen. It was about the same as the one he had in stir, but the wool blanket was thicker. It was then he noticed the handcuff dangling from the frame.

“Aw, come on, Warden!” he objected spinning around to face the officer. “You gotta be kiddin’! You cuff us at night? They didn’t even do that at Leavenworth.”

Garrison spoke calmly. “You were in cells in Leavenworth. You’re not in a cell here. Until you prove you can be trusted not to try to escape, you will be cuffed at night.”

Casino looked around. There were guards at the door. The silhouettes of bars shown behind the diamond paned glass of the arched windows. “And how do you expect us to get out?” He glared at the small fireplace. “Up the chimney?”

“I don’t know how you will attempt to get out,” said Garrison, “but I expect at some point you will all try. So, for now, the handcuffs stay.” The Lieutenant looked back at the dark brown eyes boring into his hazel ones. “Make yourself at home, then come down to my office. We’ll go over the rules and expectations.” He turned and walked out the door.

Casino let out a frustrated sigh. Terrific. Just terrific. Ignoring the ‘screws’ standing at the door, he picked up the bag with his few belongings and went back to his cot. He dropped the bag unceremoniously on the blanket and opened the foot locker. There was a kit inside which he pulled out and tossed onto the pillow. He opened his bag and dropped the folded shirt, pants, one pair of socks and one pair of underwear into the locker. The bag was closed and stowed under the cot. Sitting on the cot, he poked through the contents of the kit with one finger and wasn’t any more impressed than Actor had been. The kit was closed and dropped into the trunk. He flipped the lid closed with a bang.

The guard at the door watched Casino, but said nothing and the convict had nothing to say to the screw. He wasn’t in a hurry to go down and see Garrison either. Make the Warden wait. It was just a tiny bit of control Casino could maintain.

Instead, he rose and wandered around the room, looking at the pictures and bronze statues of crowned lions and skinny women dressed in togas. The fireplace was small. It made him wonder how it could heat a room this size. Well, maybe they would be back in the States and free before it got cold enough here to use the thing.

The window behind the big Italian’s cot opened easily. No need to lock it with the bars. Casino pressed his face against the bars and took a deep breath for show to the guard. He quickly scanned the area. There was a wide expanse of lawn, then trees that thickened into a forest area. There was no sign of a fence or gate. He couldn’t tell if there was a ledge below the window. Straightening, he closed the window.  
Moving to the right, Casino paused in front of a full suit of armor. He had never seen one close up before. With a finger, he indulgently flipped the mask piece up and let it drop shut with a satisfying clank of metal on metal.

Slowly he made his way to the next window and opened it, repeating his actions of the first window. This was better. There was a tree with branches reaching not quite to the building. To the right was a trellis covered with sturdy vines. Yeah, this had potential. He closed this window and moved on.

A portion of wall jutted into the room by a foot and a half. It coincided with the outer wall that jutted out past the trellis. Casino wasn’t sure what this was for and didn’t much care. He moved past the dark picture of an ugly man in strange clothes to what was obviously Wheeler’s messy quarters.

A window there opened to reveal more bars, but from this angle a glimpse of dry stacked stone fence and a hint of road to the left was visible. There was a wide expanse of open grass that gave little cover. It was something to think about later. For now, he’d go see what the soldier boy wanted.

GGG

The soldier boy was reviewing the dossier of his safecracker. The man had more than talent. He had breached several ‘unbreakable’ bank vaults. He had kept his teams small and changed teams frequently. Sometimes, he had been the instigator and other times merely the cracksman. He knew enough not to brag about his successes, but displayed a sure confidence in his own abilities. It was his mouth and penchant for fighting that had resulted in his arrests and frequent sojourns in solitary confinement. Bottom line, he was the best in his line of work and could work with others. As for his mouth, he might be as loud as Wheeler, but did not have that man’s sociopathic tendencies.

Like Actor, Casino had escaped prison twice, but he had used outside help, where the con man had talked his way out with guards. Wheeler had never escaped. It was uncertain if he had even tried. All bluster, he did not have the brains to affect an escape. He was a bully, but not a leader. And he was not Garrison’s choice. His ‘skills’ were not needed and could probably be covered by the other members of the team.  
Casino sauntered into the office. One guard attempted to follow him. The safecracker pivoted around with a hand on the soldier’s chest, despite that man’s hand on the butt of his sidearm, and pushed the man backwards out the door.

“You don’t need to be here,” said Casino. “Wadda yuh think? I’m gonna off him or something? Besides, he looks like he can take care of himself.”

Garrison’s mouth twitched in amusement. He gave a nod to the guard and straightened his features as Casino shut the door in the soldier’s face. He watched the cracksman walk over and sprawl in the chair across the desk from him.

“Mr. Coletti,” began Garrison.

“Casino,” corrected the man. “So, Warden, you really think handcuffin’ us to the cot at night is necessary? The bars on the windows are strong an’ yuh got guards outside the room. Where do you think we’re gonna go? Up the chimney.”

Garrison took it calmly. “As many creative escapes as some of you have made in the past, I wouldn’t be surprised at anything you might try.”

“Har, har,” shot back Casino. “Funny, Warden.”

“Lt. Garrison,” reminded Craig, knowing it was fruitless. “The cuffs stay. Ground rules: you keep your area neat. You try to run, you’ll be thrown back in Leavenworth and you’ll start your time up from when you left there. As you are so handy with locks, the closed parts of this building house parts of this place the owners did not give the Army permission to use. You break in . . .”

“Yeah, I know, I’ll go back to Leavenworth . . .” said Casino wearily.

“You will begin training in the morning with the other two men. Any questions?”

“Yeah, when do the other two get here?”

“When you see them.”

“When do we eat?”

“At 1900 hours. That’s seven o’clock. Breakfast is at 0800. Lunch depends on what we’re doing and how long it takes.”

“Terrific.” Casino made a sour face.

“If there are no more questions, you’re dismissed.”

“One more,” said the cracksman. “How am I supposed to open locks without lock picks? They took mine in stir and didn’t give ‘em back.”

“The Army is providing you with a set,” said Garrison. “Is there anything else you need for your work?”

“A stethoscope.”

That took Garrison by surprise. “A stethoscope.”

“Yeah. So I can hear on some of these newer vaults that have two sets of tumblers. You don’t know nuthin’ about robbin’ banks, do yuh Warden?”

“I can’t say I have ever had the necessity to rob a bank. No,” said Craig. “I will put in a request for a stethoscope.”

“Good.”

Casino got up and went out of the office. Garrison watched him go. What had he gotten himself into?

Casino strolled out of the office with a deliberate air of unconcern. Wouldn’t do any good to let the other two cons see he had things on his mind. Questions. Questions he wasn’t about to ask the young Army officer.

He pulled a chair out at the game table and took a seat. There was a deck of Bicycle playing cards sitting there as though they were waiting just for him. Picking up the cards, he ran his thumb up the short end of the deck, ruffling the cards to loosen them so they wouldn’t stick. Satisfied, he cut the deck in half and shuffled them and then shuffled them again.

He laid the pattern of cards out on the table, expertly dealing from the top and bottom of the deck. He could play solitaire in his sleep. It gave him a chance to think without sharing his thoughts with anyone.  
Wheeler was an overblown wheelman. From what Casino had heard in stir, the man kept lengthening his time in prison because his temper had ended in a screw and another convict being stabbed. This had resulted in a lowly driver of getaway cars being transferred to the Rock. Man was nuthin’ but trouble, so why had Garrison chosen him?

The pretty boy had to be a confidence man. They always thought they were better than everyone else. But how had he ended up in Alcatraz? Confidence men, on a whole, weren’t violent.

That left the two empty cots. Garrison had a safecracker and a confidence man. Casino didn’t count Wheeler for nuthin’. He wondered what the other two men’s specialties were.

“What is it you’re supposed to do?” The derisive question came from Wheeler.

Casino continued to play his game without looking up. “Banks and safes.”

“Ohhh . . . bank robber.”  
Casino ignored the man. Actor was reading his book, smoking a cigarette and pretending he wasn’t listening.

“How’d yuh get caught?”  
Casino looked at Wheeler with annoyance. “What is this, twenty questions? None uh yer business.”

Wheeler laughed harshly. “Didn’t plan it right?”

Casino doubted Wheeler had planned anything himself. The safecracker turned back to his game and continued to play without answering.

“Too chicken to say?” The sneer was plainly heard in the words.

The Italian slowly gathered his belongings, rose from his chair and gave a nod to the guard. He went down the short hall to the library and disappeared inside.

“Hey, I’m talkin’ to you!”

Casino swept the cards of his unfinished game together, stacked them and took them with him up the stairs. The obnoxious thug made a loud disparaging remark about the parentage of both convicts. No one rose to the bait, but the guard gave him a disgusted look.

“What’s your problem, Screw?” demanded Wheeler. When no answer was forthcoming, he added, “Better watch yourself. I’ve taken out tough screws. Yer a pansy.”

Casino had paused at the top of the stairs, out of sight of the wheelman.

“Wheeler, knock it off!” the irritated voice sounded from the office.

“Yeah? What are yuh gonna do about it, Garrison?”

“You can just as easily spend the time before the mission in the stockade. Unless you miss your cell in Alcatraz.”

“You ain’t gonna do that. You need me.”

Casino listened for the response and wasn’t disappointed. 

“I’m sure all of the four other gentlemen on the team are capable of driving a car. Now shut your mouth and stay here, or you can find out what a cell in an Army stockade is like.”

There was a pause. “Aw, none uh you guys has a sense of humor. Fine. I’ll stay here, but I’m bored.”

“Get over it.”

Casino grinned at the silence that followed. Warden had some balls, but he’d better watch his back around the blowhard. Continuing up the last two steps, Casino ignored the guard at the door and entered the upstairs common room that was their new ‘cell.’ It was quiet. Casino smiled again. Sitting at the table, he reshuffled the deck, the only sound being the sharp flutter of cards hitting each other.

Supper that evening was a little bit of a surprise. The pecking order had begun already. Garrison was seated at the far end of the table. The Warden ate with them? On the near end of the table was the confidence man, sitting as if it were his due right. The blowhard was at a place on Garrison’s right, but closer to Actor. Was Wheeler afraid of the Warden?

Casino moved around behind Actor and took his time taking the seat closest to Garrison’s left. He wasn’t afraid of Soldier Boy. 

“Nice of you to join us,” said the Lieutenant with displeasure.

“I forgot the time,” said Casino with an unconcerned shrug.

“Don’t do it again,” warned the officer. “You will learn to be a team. You will be where you’re supposed to be, when you’re supposed to be there. It can have serious consequences when you are around the Jerries.”

Casino gave him an insulant look. “I don’t see any Krauts around here.”

“No, but you’ll be seeing them soon enough. From now on you’ll be at meals on time.”

“Yeah, yeah,” said Casino, trying to maintain the upper hand. “Don’t get your shorts in a wad.”

The swinging door to the kitchen pushed outward and a man emerged, wearing a slightly stained apron over his fatigues. He was balancing two plates on his arm and had one in each hand. The first plate was placed in front of Garrison and the second in front of Wheeler. A plate with a spoonful or two more of food was placed in front of the con man. The final plate with the same amount of food as the Lieutenant was set in front of Casino.

The cracksman looked with distaste at the piece of fried Spam sitting like an island in a pool of grease and the sauce from the ‘baked’ beans that were in a sticky pile beside it. 

“I think the food was better in stir,” grumbled Casino, picking up a fork to poke at the meat.

“At times it was,” agreed Actor.

Casino glanced at the way the pretty man was delicately cutting small bites of the meat, as though it were a fine beef filet. 

Wheeler was shoveling food into his mouth. “Yeah, an’ how come he,” Wheeler stabbed his fork in Actor’s direction, “gets more food than the rest of us? I’m hungry all the time. What’s so special about him?”  
Actor ignored him, concentrating on the food in front of him.

“He needs it and you don’t,” said Garrison calmly. “His weight is too low for his frame. Yours is too high. I need you all to be in top shape by the time we go on the mission.”

“It really depends on what activities we will be performing,” remarked Actor. “I am sure I will have no difficulties with certain activities.”

The innuendo was obvious. Oh, brother, thought Casino. Beautiful thought he was a ladies man. Probably was too, he thought in disgust.

“You won’t be finding any of those activities here,” replied Garrison in the same calm voice. “So I wouldn’t worry about it.”

“I am not at all worried,” parried the con man. “However, on the Continent . . . that will be a different matter.”

“You won’t be engaging in those activities on the mission either.”

“So what is this great mission,” asked Wheeler, mouth full.

“When the other two men get here and you are all trained, we’ll discuss the mission.” Garrison continued eating.

Casino dug with his fork in disgust through greasy Spam, canned pork and beans, and a little bit of plain chopped lettuce without dressing that could not have come out of a rations kit. He turned his eyes to glance at the Italian, who had received a larger portion of the slop. Actor was eating it just as unappreciatively as Casino. Wheeler was scarfing it down. ‘Dessert’ was the Hershey chocolate bar that came in the rations kit. It was the only decent thing there. Even the coffee was made from grain and not coffee beans.

After the meal, Casino went back upstairs to his solitaire game. There was a fresh pack of cigarettes on each of the three cots. Casino was surprised. He knew cigarettes were included in the rations kits. He just figured whoever the soldier was in the kitchen would have kept them for himself. That’s what happened to things in stir, and it was something he would have done himself if he had the opportunity. At least they were being kept in smokes. He got up from the table and stuffed the pack inside his pillowcase. 

Returning to the table, Casino pulled the opened pack from his pocket, shook out a cigarette and lit it with a match. He had been hoarding that single pack he had been given on the way out to this strange new jail.   
An hour later, Actor appeared with his book. A nod of acknowledgement was all the greeting passed between the two men. The pack of cigarettes on the Italian’s cot were casually picked up and put in his pocket.  
“At least they keep us supplied with cigarettes,” remarked the confidence man, taking a seat in ‘his’ wing-backed chair.

Casino didn’t like to ask, but he was curious. “We get a pack every day?”

“So far,” replied the Italian.

“How long you been here?” Casino paused in laying out his cards and looked at the man.

“Three days,” replied Actor.

“You two get here together?” asked the safecracker.

‘Unfortunately.” Actor opened his book and began reading.

Casino went back to his card game. “Beautiful” wasn’t much on conversation it seemed. Peace lasted until just before the ten o’clock ‘curfew’ when Wheeler arrived complaining about the screws. Both men ignored him. 

“Lights out in five minutes,” said the young corporal who was guarding the door from the outside, before closing the tall ornately carved wooden door behind Wheeler.

Actor precisely placed his scrap paper bookmark in the book he was reading and placed it on the table beside his chair. That was a clue to Casino to put up his cards. The two men from Alcatraz moved to their cots and began removing their outer clothes. Like Casino they both wore regulation issue army undergarments. The cracksman sat on his bed and began removing his outer clothes. Actor folded his neatly and laid them atop his footlocker. Predictably, Wheeler wadded his up and tossed them on his footlocker. A sock fell on the floor and stayed there. Though not as neat as the Italian, Casino had been raised to keep his clothes folded so they were wearable a second day if need be.

Garrison stopped outside the doors to the upstairs common room and motioned the guard not to open the doors for him. He remained silent, a frown on his face as he strained to hear the conversation within that was muted by the closed doors. 

“I don’t know why they can’t let us wander around. Where are we gonna go? I mean besides to find dames and a drink? We’re men, we have needs.”

“Ah, but Casino, we are not men,” said the Italian accented voice. “This is basically no different than prison. Some of the accommodations are better. And we are addressed by the names we choose to be called. But what we are called here is the same as being a number in stir. No, we are not men; we are merely possessions of the Army instead of possessions of the prison system.”

Garrison straightened and nodded to the guard. The corporal opened the door for the Lieutenant. Craig walked in and approached Wheeler first. The sneer he received might have made any other man hesitate, but Garrison wasn’t any other man. The two men exchanged looks, the Lieutenant’s no nonsense and the con’s challenging. Finally, Wheeler backed down and held out his arm. Garrison snapped the cuff around his left wrist.

Straightening, the Lieutenant turned and started toward Actor. The older man held his wrist up as high at the cuff would allow. Casino watched, surprised that the man had cuffed himself. Garrison gave a nod to the con man and noted the calculating look he received in return. It was not defiant, but merely assessing. 

Casino watched the army officer approach him. It wouldn’t do any good to object or argue with the man, so he thrust his right arm stiffly out so the lieutenant could snap the cuff on his wrist. Garrison walked away, leaving Casino to watch his back disappear out the door without a word. The corporal flipped the light switch, plunging the men in darkness, before closing the door.

The safecracker tried to find a comfortable position. Even in stir he had never been cuffed to the cot. He wiggled around on his left side, but there was not enough play in the chain to let his arm at least rest on his uppermost side. He turned to his right side, but couldn’t get his hand and wrist up under the pillow. Finally, he gave up and let his arm rest on the cot.

“This is for the birds,” grumbled Casino.

“Bars on the windows an’ screws at the door,” complained Wheeler, “and that soldier boy thinks he has tuh chain us to the beds.”

Actor sighed. “Yes, it is uncomfortable and degrading, but we are not in a tiny cell and we have bathroom privileges in private.”

Casino turned partially over onto his back and shot a quizzical look at the con man. “You got a strange way of looking at things.”

“Perhaps,” said Actor amicably, “but think about it.”

“Aw, why don’t the two of yuh just shut up!” ordered Wheeler irritably.

The light was flipped on, rudely awaking the men. Casino squinted at a different corporal. What time was it? He couldn’t tell if it was light out yet through the blackout drapes. The corporal released Wheeler’s restraint first. It didn’t take long for the bald man to swing out of the bed and head for the open door. There were two guards at the door and one followed the convict down the hall.

Actor was released next and he sat on the edge of the bed, rubbing his wrist. Casino was released last. He sat up, also rubbing his wrist. 

“What time is it?” asked Casino. He had not been issued a watch yet. Amazing how a person’s belongings got lost in stir.

“Five,” replied Actor. “We have one hour to get into fatigues and take care of our morning absolutions. Excuse me, using the . . . .”

“I ain’t stupid,” slung Casino back at him. “I know what you said.”

Actor gave a nod. There was nothing too condescending about it.

“So why does Wheeler get to go first?”

Actor gave a crooked grin. “I would imagine the guards feel it is safer in here with him out of the way.”

“Terrific.”

After twenty minutes, the tall Italian went to the door. It opened within a few seconds and the thug walked in, shouldering the con man rudely on his way past. Actor ignored the slight and continued out the door as though nothing had happened. Casino had already figured he was the low man on the totem pole until the other two men got here. Hierarchy just like prison, he thought with resignation.

When it was his turn, he had to admit, the privacy of a bathroom with a door was definitely better than the out in the open, no seat toilet in the prison cell where everybody could see you, and worse see what you had. Not that what Casino had wasn’t nuthin’ to be embarrassed about. As he sat on the porcelain facility, he wished there were some magazines, preferably the kind with centerfold pictures. That probably would never happen, considering how straight-laced the army officer seemed to be.

At six o’clock sharp, the three men were lined up in the carpark, guards on either side of them, one in front and one on the balcony overlooking them. All had rifles. The Lieutenant moved energetically down the steps, entirely too chipper as far as Casino was concerned. He was clad in army fatigues.

“Gentlemen, a little stretching first,” instructed Garrison.

Casino followed the lead of the other two men. They followed stretching with calisthenics. Giving him credit where credit was due, the army officer did the same exercises. 

Garrison then led the way through the open tall wooden gate at a jog. Wheeler was behind Garrison, but not too close. Casino followed, but again not too close to Wheeler. Actor took up the rear and was more inclined to walk until a rifle was pointed at him. They made a circuit around the grassy area, maybe 400 yards. Casino expected them to stop, but the Lieutenant kept on going so they had to follow. They did the circuit three more times before returning to the carpark. Now they were tired and sweating . . . and it wasn’t even seven o’clock yet. Casino had not expected to be this out of shape. He had exercised and played ball in the prison yard every day. He guessed it wasn’t enough.

They were released by Garrison, who hadn’t really broken into a sweat at all. They dragged their feet up the steps and into the house. Wheeler did not stop at the common room, but now hurried down to the bathroom. Actor shook his head. 

Casino flung himself on the cot and waited to cool down before removing his damp outer clothes. Actor rummaged through his foot locker and pulled out a one piece khaki set of fatigues and fresh underwear. It was another twenty minutes before Wheeler returned. He was clan only in his shorts. Not a sight Casino wanted to see. Fifteen minutes later, Actor returned a towel wrapped around him from his waist to just above his knees. He was kinda thin. 

Now it was Casino’s turn and he couldn’t wait for a nice warm shower. Shucking his clothes, he stepped over the side of the tub and turned the water on. It was lukewarm. Still, he turned the shower part on and stepped under it. The lukewarm lasted for another minute before turning to ice, or at least it felt like ice. The safecracker swore loudly. Hurriedly getting the soap out of his hair and off his body, he shut the water off and climbed out. Rapidly towel drying his hair and his body, he wrapped the bath towel around his hips, gathered his damp clothes and stalked back to the common room.

“Hey,” he exploded at the other two men. “What happened to the hot water? I almost froze my backside off!”

Actor was dressed and standing beside his cot, his back to the room. Wheeler gave a loud laugh. “Yeah, well, you’re the fish now. You get the cold water. Ain’t no different from stir, is it?”

Actor turned his head in Casino’s direction. “The boilers in this house are ancient. If someone takes more than fifteen minutes, you know the third person won’t get any hot water.” His inference to Wheeler was unmistakable.

“Yeah,” agreed Wheeler with a smug laugh.

Actor turned around and Casino almost choked. The man had the same green patterned ascot around his neck and tucked inside his open collar like yesterday. A neckerchief with fatigues. Yup, the safecracker had nailed it with the nickname of Beautiful for the confidence man. Casino couldn’t wait to see what the other two cons were going to be like.


End file.
